WEEK FOUR: SHARED CONSCIOUSNESS

This week in class we had to come up with a final idea for our assignment, a task which we found quite difficult. After sharing our individual ideas, we were no closer, so as a group we began to, quite literally, throw ideas around. We kept, however, coming back to trying to find a way in which people could communicate directly with each other without the need for a in intermediary device- such as a screen or speaker. Eventually, an idea which seemed extremely far fetched kept coming to light- shared consciousness.

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The basic idea which we were exploring was one where we could use technology to connect our consciousnesses with others around the world, and allow us to broadcast our thoughts. The premise was that while internet communication allowed us to communicate with one another, it has barriers.  

Although we were unsure how this would work- we explored various possibilities, the first of which was- what information would be shared?  We proposed that those with knowledge would likely have the most to share and perhaps this would change the structure of society- where knowledge would once again equal social standing- those who were the most intelligent would become the most important. 

The negative aspects were briefly explored, including the need to be able to segment thoughts, or turn off some areas of the brain.  There was also the idea that perhaps verbal communication would decrease.  

Security issues were identified, as there may be some scope for "brain hacking", theft of information and even viruses, however these are beyond the scope of the project.  

We left the studio with an idea which could work, but knowing that we had to complete a lot of research to ascertain whether or not it was even a remote possibility.